Opinion Contributor

Sandy’s lesson: Address climate change

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast highlighted several tragic trends that will continue if not actively and aggressively addressed. First, the super storm showed us how powerful jet stream winds were able to box Sandy in along the coast and exacerbate the damage the storm caused. These blocking patterns have appeared with greater frequency and intensity in recent years, which scientists have attributed to the loss of Arctic sea ice as a result of global warming.

Second, Sandy reminded us how the Republican leadership continues to fail the American public on natural disaster prevention and response. For Mitt Romney to dismiss climate science so cavalierly on the campaign trail, and pledge to dismantle FEMA, shows the depths of his disregard for science, public health and safety, and America’s capacity to respond to environmental disasters. This is not what we need in the White House.

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We need a president with the courage to pledge to cool the planet by cutting carbon emissions because, at the current rate, they’ll boil the planet. The first eight months of 2012 were the hottest on record since record-keeping began in 1895. The months of June, July and August produced the third-hottest summer ever recorded, the impact of which is killing our agricultural economy. This summer, 40 out of 50 states had drought-designated counties with conditions severe enough to be eligible for federal aid. Almost two-thirds of the nation experienced moderate to severe drought conditions, a 30 percent increase from last year, when one-third of the country witnessed such conditions.

That president is Barack Obama. He’s pledged to tackle global warming, and he worked with Democrats in the House to do something about it in 2009 when we passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) to cap emissions at reduced levels over time and provide incentives for the development of a clean and green energy economy. In contrast, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Republican members of Congress still refuse to take meaningful steps to address what can be done to protect our planet from this growing threat. If we leave the climate to Republicans, we can expect stronger and more frequent “Frankenstorms.”

Even worse, Republican leadership coordinated with big fossil fuel companies to wage a disinformation campaign to create “doubt” about climate change and the role of fossil fuels in causing it and used political influence to kill ACES and other climate efforts. Exxon paid 40 organizations to create “doubt” about the settled science of climate change, using some of the same public relations people that the tobacco companies used to create “doubt” about the health hazards of cigarettes. According to an American Petroleum Institute memo “Victory will be achieved when average citizens ‘understand’ uncertainties in climate science.’” And as recently as October 26, 2012, Chevron donated $2.5 million to the “Congressional Leadership Fund,” a Super PAC with close ties to Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner.

Readers' Comments (36)

climate change??? last time i checked we only have scientific records going back a couple of hundred years. now how can anyone deduce a conclusion from that, given the earth has been in existence for millions of years??

Once there were trees growing in parts of Antarctica, now snow and ice cover it entirely. Many times glacial ice was meters thick over my beloved Wisconsin, and as many times it has melted. These cycles always were and always will be. Our 120 years of record keeping represents the time span of the period at the end of "War And Peace".

There are long and short earth cycles we barely understand, and sun cycles we can only guess at.

Mankind didn't cause climate and can't change it -- although a few alarmists are profiting from the fear of it (fiction writers, grant grabbers, and politicians like Al Gore with carbon trading schemes).

What we can do is plan for those changes we did not cause and cannot stop. Diverting scarce public funds to pursue these fictions of vanity is stupid.

Sea walls, levees, and food storage facilities are the more practical responses... Oh, and no more cities below sea level!

It's an absolute must to reduce the level of our carbon emissions. It's already too late to avoid at least some of the consequences of global warming, but hopefully there's still time to avoid the absolute worst case scenarios. If we don't, this year's droughts could be only the beginning: much of the country's breadbasket cold be facing dustbowl-era conditions for the forseeable future if our carbon output climbs much higher.

Bike, walk, run, take public transportation or carpool to work. If you need help fidning carpool companions and live in the DC area, you can find people online here: http://us.amovens.com/en.

It's an absolute must to reduce the level of our carbon emissions. It's already too late to avoid at least some of the consequences of global warming, but hopefully there's still time to avoid the absolute worst case scenarios. If we don't, this year's droughts could be only the beginning: much of the country's breadbasket cold be facing dustbowl-era conditions for the forseeable future if our carbon output climbs much higher.

What consequences of global warming have we failed to avoid. The myth of global man-made warming has been crumbling over the years as more "honest" scienctific information is being released. Much of the information that has fueled the global warming hysteria is being debunked. The concensus has been falling apart for years - it's just the talking point that remains the same.

The godfather of global warming lowers the boom on climate change hysteria

http://www.torontosun.c...

The University of East Anglia where much of the recent global warming hysteria was started released a study recently that shows the temperature of the earth stopped warming up 16 years ago. Opps.... looks as if the so-called most knowledgeble supporters of man-made global warming.... you know the ones involved in the email scandal about them cooking the facts on global warming are pulling back from their doom and gloom prediction.

http://www.dailymail.co...

Recent scientific discoveries have determined that the earth was warmer during the middle ages than it is today.

Exactly what the scientists have said would come to pass is happening: extreme storms, extreme drought, and extreme wildfires. The right puts their faith in oil companies. Who do you believe Oil companies or scientists?

Exactly what the scientists have said would come to pass is happening: extreme storms, extreme drought, and extreme wildfires. The right puts their faith in oil companies whose ONLY concern is their bottom line. Who do you believe Oil companies or independent scientists?

Exactly what scientists have said would come to pass is happening: extreme storms, extreme drought, and extreme wildfires. The right puts their faith in oil companies whose ONLY concern is their bottom line. Do you want your childrens futures in the hands of oil companies?

Exactly what the scientists have said would come to pass is happening: extreme storms, extreme drought, and extreme wildfires. The right puts their faith in oil companies. Who do you believe Oil companies or scientists?

Which scientists are you listening to? 30 years ago we were told that we were in a period of global cooing and there were actually scientific proposals to drop carbor or coal dust on the arctic and anarctic poles to turn them black and absorb the heat from the sun. We were told that we were headed for another ice age. It is a good thing that the people back then didn't jump on the junk science bandwagon or we would be in serious trouble right now.

There are several links to articles in post #5 above about prominent scientists in the global warming realm that have changed their tune. People on the right do put their faith in science, we just don't believe in junk science that is fraught with lies, deceit and cooking the books.

There have been weather extremes going on for billions of years. Extreme droughts is not something new.

http://en.wikipedia.org...

Extreme storms are nothing new.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov...

Wildfires in 2012 were a major problem, but there have been much worse wildfires throughout our history. The largest wildfire in the U.S. this year was the Oregon fire that consumed a little over 719,000 acres. We have had individual fires in this country that have consumed in excess of 2 million acres.

A Greenpeace investigation on Andrea Saul/(Romney campaign press secretary) began this year when a sharp ex-journalist tipped us on anti-climate science press releases sent his way while Saul worked for the lobbyists DCI Group several years ago. Upon further digging, it was clear that Saul played a key role in an Exxon-funded campaign to subvert global warming science — running counter-ops specifically denying any connection between global warming and hurricanes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Weeks before Romney shifted his position on climate change in 2011, he actively sought the David Koch’s of Koch Industries endorsement. Did Romney shift his climate stance to appeal to the Koch brothers? [PR Watch]

Have you heard of science? The SCIENTIST have figured out a way to determine the temperature at any given time in our history. AMAZING right? It's incredible what people can do when they actually STUDY something isn't it?

Believe it or not I actually trust experts in the field who have dedicated their entire lives to studying one subject over a numskull on the internet. I'll listen to the head of the Goddard Institute of space studies at NASA over our politicians because he's probably the leading climate scientist in the world. I'll listen to the National Academies of Science over clowns and pseudo-intellectuals who think they know better than the world's greatest minds.

Rep. Mike Honda is totally clueless. Why is it that Democrats and liberals like to say they are progressive and listen to science rather than superstition, and yet can be so totally uninformed ? Mike, pick up a newspaper... do a little research. In the last year, more than one scientific report have come out showing that the globe has not warmed - at all - in the last 15 years...

Let me try to get this down to the 8th grade level for you Mike - there is no global warming. Climate Change as you now call it so it can apply to any change up or down, warmer or colder, is just a series of normal cyclical changes the globe has always had since its birth.

Time for Mike and all of the other Global Warming alarmists to start actually doing what you preach, and that is to take a real look at the science, rather than using Al Gore's propaganda movie as your intellectual point of reference.